~Chapter 50~

Unexpected Guests

Taemin’s POV~

            We have been away for about a year and it has been total bliss. Minho hyung and I spend almost every minute of the day together. He plays music while I dance, he practices fighting with his sword while I use my spear, he cooks while I eat, and so much more. The dragon babies love us and try to spend almost their entire day with us as well. At times, they spend more time with us than Mr. Dragon who is their actual father. Minho hyung and I started a new movement, where we would slaughter evil man-eating monsters and protecting the kind monsters in the monster dens. Eventually, all nearby monster dens are occupied with only pure-spirited monsters, making the people live at peace. It’s not like we aimlessly kill all monsters that show some evil aura. We try to help them turn to the good side and when they show total resilience and are not tamable, we are forced to put them down.

            Although we interact with the people that live by the many hamlets that surround the forest, we make it clear that they cannot talk about us outside to avoid catching attention of the royal palace. Even so, the hamlets combined forces and built a statue of the both of us to honor our deeds. They captured our relationship very well, as they had one playing the flute and one holding a spear as if he were attacking a monster. Minho hyung usually plays the flute to try to tame the monster while I would slaughter them if they were at the point of no return. Despite us being a couple, they see us as two sworn brothers that vowed to tame all monsters. I guess this makes things easier for us since girls would fangirl over us and feed us pretty well, hehe. They love making food for those they admire, and I don’t mind eating more than three meals a day. They like seeing me enjoying their food and I love eating free food, so if you ask me, it’s a win-win situation.

            “Taemin-ah!” Minho yells as he waves enthusiastically from the other side of the den. My mouth curves into a wide smile as I run toward him, right into his arms. Minho hyung picks me up by the waist and spins me around, chucking happily. After a few turns, he sets me down on my feet again. I pull out a handkerchief and wife the sweat off of his face as the long day of caring for the monsters has made him tired. Since the number of monsters under our care has increased, we have to go on rounds to check on their conditions. We make sure they are safe, healthy, and at peace since they are trying to cultivate to the level of celestial beast. Sometimes, young kids from the nearby villages and hamlets would get lost and run around the monster dens. Although the monsters love little kids, they tend to be a huge distraction. On the bright side, since all parents know about the kind monsters, they are not the least bit worried when their kids are gone, even for a few hours’ time. That means it’s also our job to the kids back before dinnertime. We don’t mind, but sometimes tending the monsters and kids take so much of our time that we don’t get to see each other until after dark.

            The little dragon babies also get jealous since they’d like to see themselves as the most important monsters in our eyes. When we don’t give them enough attention, they’d bother us until they are pleased. I took them around to explore the forbidden forest today, but they were just upset Minho had to tend other monsters beside them. The five dragon babies jump on Minho hyung, greeting him as well. I spent an entire evening with them, so they aren’t as jumpy. Nonetheless, Minho hyung’s presence always gets them excited. He laughs as they try to fly him up. Each of their little wings flap madly, but they only manage to lift him up a few inches off the ground. With a unanimous grunt, they drop him. “Where’s Mr. Dragon?” I ask.

            “He flew to your master’s mountain and said he’s going to enjoy a nice long talk. I think they are making plans on what we should do next in terms of helping the citizens. Down on the palace’s end has been oddly peaceful, so they were worried that something might be up the emperor’s sleeve.”

            “Any news on our friends?” I ask hopefully, knowing very well that it’s hard to get any updates on them. Minho hyung shakes his head solemnly and exhales. “I think we should—” My sentence gets cut off by a series of monsters signaling for us to come. The monsters have not cultivated long enough yet, so they can’t communicate with us by words, but calls. If they call out, their tone will let us know how urgent the matter is. The signal this time seemed a bit rushed, almost like they were surprised. We look at each other for a bit and pat the baby dragons’ heads, telling them to wait patiently. Hand in hand, we walk toward the location that monsters called from.

            We notice that the monsters are huddled around, almost like they were watching over something. As we draw near, the monsters part way for us to reveal what they were hiding. I immediately curse to myself. I try to turn around to run off and get my White Masked Hero outfit on, but it was too late. Jimin and the crown prince already exchanged eye contact with me. Minho hyung drops his hand and stares at the two who exclaim, “Taemin hyung, Minho hyung!” Their voices had the sound of desperation in them, almost like they were hoping that we’d come to their aid, and now we finally answered their prayers. I let out cheer as I see Gun Tae run to me in all fours, still in his wolf form.

            Taemin hyung! I’m so happy we ran into you. We were attacked by Peacekeepers and we just didn’t know what to do, Gun Tae tells me.

            “Peacekeepers attacked you?” I repeat in shock. “Why are you all around this area anyway?”

            “We have been getting reports about an odd decrease in monster attacks, so His Majesty sent us to go check on the area. On our way, we ran into Peacekeepers and barely made it out alive,” the crown prince explains. I shoot Minho hyung a quick look as I sense him stiffen at the mentioning of the king. I inch closer to him and hold onto the hem of his clothing, giving him a nudge of support.

            “I thought the Peacekeepers went into hiding because they were being hunted by the heroes,” I say. “You said the king sent you here?”

            We aren’t lying to you, hyung, Gun Tae confirms. We didn’t know you were here and were just trying to run away. We freaked out when the monsters swarmed us, but then you two quickly came. Taemin hyung, I swear we aren’t lying to you.

            I look at Jimin who is oddly not looking at me. Is he hiding something? I ask myself. Looking at their injuries and messy attire, it does seem like they were on the run. I shove my suspicion to the back of my mind as I help them up. “Where do you want to bring them, hyung?” I look at Minho hyung who finally reacts.

            “Let’s bring them to our home.”

            “Thank you,” Jimin says as he drinks the medicine we provided after I used my energy to help them heal faster. “I never had the chance to ask how you are doing,” he looks at Minho hyung. “I thought you and the White Masked Hero fell off the cliff together. Where is he?”

            “He’s back with his master,” Minho hyung lies calmly. “We are all doing well.”

            “How were you able to reunite with Taemin hyung? I thought you wanted to keep yourself hidden,” Jimin says. “It was hard keeping your secret you know.” Hearing this, Minho hyung gives me a look of disbelief.

            “People knew you were back? I thought you were just hiding this whole time,” he exclaims.

            “Uhh…about that…” I chew the inside of my lip uneasily. “The day of the banquet with the dark clans, I came and led them through this forbidden forest while you distracted the Peacekeepers…from then on, I kept in contact with Jimin.” Minho hyung lets out a humph and takes a sip of his tea.

            Nice going hyung~ Gun Tae mocks jokingly. I knew your secrets will get to you one day.

            “Taemin hyung gave me a whistle and bell chain for me to communicate with him. I didn’t know you two were together, if not, I would’ve contacted him instead of wondering about how you all are doing,” Jimin says. I look at Minho hyung who once more sips on his cup, only this time, it was already empty. Oh Jimin, why did you have to add fuel to the flame? I told you I was Taemin before I told Minho hyung and I even gave you a way to communicate with me. Minho hyung must’ve already been bitter that he wasn’t the first to find out and now you unintendedly rub it in his face that you are able to casually communicate with me while he spent years depressed over my death…Oh my gosh…

            We agreed for the crown prince, Jimin, and Gun Tae to stay for the time being. Since the emperor wanted for them to explore the area, we couldn’t just send them back to get punished for failing their task. Minho hyung has been pretty quiet since their arrival and I think the conversation with Jimin made it worse. As we lay side by side in bed, he turns his back facing me, unlike usual where he would hug me the entire night. I pout to myself and inch myself closer to him, but he doesn’t turn around. Is he already sleeping? I get off the bed and he rolls over, making me face his back once more. Crap, he really is upset…I sigh and take my pillow and extra blanket as I exit the room. Minho hyung might feel better if he doesn’t have to lay with me in bed. I plop my pillow on the cold floor and lay down, tossing the blanket clumsily on top of myself. Although I feel guilty, the long day has taken a toll on me. Before I realize it, I drift off to sleep.

            I stir in my sleep as I feel myself being lifted. I finally relax as I feel my body being wrapped by a familiar pair of gentle yet muscular arms. It’s Minho hyung! I try not to embarrass him by waking up, so I remain “asleep” as he carries me. He leans my body slightly, so my head can lean onto his firm chest and walks as steadily and slowly as possible, afraid that I’d wake up. I finally feel that we reached the bed as the temperature in the room is much warmer than outside. Minho carefully places me on the bed and sets my head on the pillow comfortably. Minho hyung then slips in bed beside me and covers us both with our blanket. The warmth of the bed is so different from the cold floor that I can’t help but to move closer to him, hoping to warm myself up as quickly as possible. I feel him flinch slightly as my cold hands grazed his arm. Hehehe, I laugh in my head. My hands and feet are cold eh~ Instead of backing away like I expected, Minho hyung shifts himself closer to me and slips my hands into his pajama’s lapel, burying them inside his warm chest. He then curves his legs so that my feet would set between his, so they can warm up. Hmm am I really not that cold? He’s okay? Did he fall asleep like this?! After a while, I finally open my eyes to take a peek at him, but quickly regret it when I see his eyes staring back at me. Ahh he wasn’t sleeping!  

            “Are you still cold?” He whispers. I nod shyly, and he pulls me even closer, warming me up with his body heat.

            “I thought you were mad at me…” I utter quietly, afraid of what he’d say next. Minho lets out a sigh, his breath tickling my face.

            “I wasn’t mad, just jealous,” Minho hyung says. I look at him with wide eyes, surprised by his honesty. It is not easy for someone to admit that they’re jealous, not to mention so casually.

            “Why didn’t you just leave me outside?”

            “It’s getting colder at night, so I can’t just let you sleep out there. What if you catch a cold?” He pats my hair and then pecks the top of my head. “Besides, it was hard to fall asleep without you in my arms.” I feel a blush creep up on my face thanks to his cheesy words. I cringe slightly and hide my face in his chest. Sometimes I question how he can say things like this so easily. “Meanwhile you slept like a pig without me,” he huffs.

            “I was tried~”

            “And I wasn’t?” Minho hyung shakes his head in a judging manner.

            “I’m sorry!” I pout.

            “Humph, you’re lucky I felt bad about you sleeping on the ground outside or I would’ve just left you like that.”

            “You would’ve let me sleep on the ground the entire night?!”

            “Don’t act like you’re the victim. No one told you to do that.”

            “But you weren’t facing me, or hugging me, or laid close to me in bed~ If I had to stare at your back all night, I wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep!”

            “Yet you were able to sleep on the cold, hard ground,” Minho hyung tsks.

            “Ahh hyung stop picking on me~”

            “Hey, I’m still bitter about earlier so let me have my fun.”

            “Aww come on, hyung~ if anything I should complain that it took until I fell down the cliff for you to recognize me! I gave Jimin the whistle to contact me since I needed to work with him to find the Peacekeepers’ liar to rescue you. I had to cross-dress to get information on your location and in the end, it was useless since you and the Peacekeepers marched into the king’s trap.”

            “Wait, you cross-dressed?”

            “Yeah, I had to seduce a bunch of heroes and young masters to stay on the top floor of the monster arena, bet on a fighter, and won information your location.”

            “You did all that to reunite with me?” Minho hyung’s voice finally changes from joking to a loving tone.

            “Yes~ but here you are getting jealous over what happened.”

            “Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Minho hyung pulls me even closer to him. “I’ll try to not get easily jealous next time.”

            “Yes, yes, good hyung,” I pat his head, acting like I am talking to a child. “Hyung, let’s sleep~ we need to tend our guests tomorrow,” I say. Minho hyung hums warmly in response and after cuddling a bit more, we both fall asleep.

~Comments are loved~